Loosing Lila by Sarah Alderson
 Publisher: Simon & Schuster
 Publication Date: August 2nd, 2012
 Pages: 343
 Song I Played While Reading: Pray to God by Calvin   Harris
 Rating: 4 stars

   Alex and Lila are on the run, desperately trying to stay one step ahead of the Unit. Alex is determined to keep Lila safe at any cost, but Lila's only thought is of finding a way back to California so she can rescue her family from the military base where they're being held. 
Lila plans not only to save her brother and mum, but also to completely destroy the Unit and everything it stands for. But that means Lila returning to California alone, and making friends with the enemy- putting herself at risk of losing everything; Alex, her family... and even her life. 

My first reaction to this is LOL. Just one, long, LOL. Alderson kicked my ass with her comedy; either I would bark out a sharp laugh because it was so unexpected, or drop the book and try not to cry. And then she'd write a scene with Alex and I would swoon. Blonde buzz cut, arctic blue eyes, tan skin, ripped, fiercely protective and willing to do anything for the people he loved... *drops to the floor* GIMME GIMME GIMME.
Overall, this was a kick ass book. From the Mexican Mafia, to car chases, to breaking into buildings, to setting shit on fire, this story was all over the damn place, but in a good way. Lila was a really strong narrator, and I enjoyed her character development immensely. She knew what she wanted and she went for it, all or nothing. It was the same with Alex, and together they were just so beautiful I could've cried.
I thought Alderson wrapped everything up nicely, almost a little too perfectly, but there was so much going on throughout the story that I couldn't complain. If you can't make a hugely crazy, impactful ending, just throw in a shit ton of action scenes until the readers head spins. I was a little irked again at the holes in the plot. Or maybe I shouldn't even say plot since it's more to do with the way Lila and Jack spoke. Lila was with her father in London for 6ish years, but she always had an American accent. She complained about it once, so I assumed she still had one. I guess it would make sense that she would say "mum", because we all probably pick up small things like that if we're in a different country, right? But why did Jack say mum? And why did he say "bloody"? He was never in London, so he wouldn't say that. Nor would Alex for that matter, and I caught him saying mum every once in a while.
I kind of figured the author did that unintentionally, since she's from England, and the editor didn't notice it either. I know it's a small issue, but it bothered me nonetheless. I'm super picky like that. But besides that and the small amount of grammatical errors, this book was really, really fun.
ALSO, for anyone who's read this and didn't know, Alderson wrote a scene that's not in the book that takes place between Chapter 5 and 6, when Alex and Lila are on the beach in the hotel room. It's just a little steamy something, written as "x-rated" but it's really not. More graphic than a usual YA novel, but not enough to be NA. I, of course, recommend reading it cause SWOON. There's a link on her website (click here).

Quotes
""Here," Alex said, handing a gun to Key, "just in case."
Mrs. Johnson's eyes grew round. "Mary mother of Jesus, what you doing with guns? Joe Junior, what kind of trouble you getting yourself mixed up in? And why you dragging your poor old mama into it? Mrs. Williams' boy never goes getting himself into trouble. And if he did, he sho wouldn't bring his mama into it."
Alex slammed the door on them and we walked to the corner of the road, hoping Key didn't tun the gun on his mother before she'd done her sifting business."

"Jack was staring at the floor, but now he glared up at me through his lashes. That was a scowl. Definitely a scowl.
"Oh yeah," he said. That was anger. Definitely anger.
"When I'm done sorting out the Unit, Alex and I are going to have a little chat."
"Over my dead body."
"I'm thinking more over his dead body." He glowered at me some more then held up a hand to stop me in my tracks. I thought about making him slap himself. It wasn't like it would cause any damage. Tempting."

"I'm not stupid," I muttered lamely.
"Well, why else would you tell Alex to go anywhere? What will we do for eye candy now? Were you thinking of Nate at all? Were you thinking of me? I think you're incredibly selfish, Lila."

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Ten Finished Series I have YET to Finish (TTT)

This meme is hosted by the lovely ladies at The Broke and the Bookish :)

1. The Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor

I have no idea what happened here. I remember finishing Days of Blood and Starlight and being absolutely ravenous for the final book. I was (am?) obsessed with the world and writing and I know for a fact it's amazing. I loved Karou and thought she was so fierce and independent and badass. But something I've noticed with some series; if I have to wait long enough, I fall out of love with it. Or rather, I forget. I forget how amazing it is and it's pretty sad. With some series, like Throne of Glass, it's 24/7 love for me. My love for it grows and grows each day, and I always think about it at some point. I have no idea what the difference is, but clearly Daughter of Smoke and Bone didn't stick like ToG did. BUT, I have Dreams of Gods and Monster on in TBR jar and I will read it this year. I SWEAR.

2. The Unrememberd trilogy by Jessica Brody

Another forgot-how-amazing-this-is-but-will-read-it-this-year.  *shrugs* TBR JAR FOR THE WIN.

3. The Gone series by Michael Grant 

I haven't read the last two in this series, and I really, really, really, hope they have Fear and Light printed with these covers. I like my books to match!

4. The Need series by Carrie Jones

CURSE MY INABILITY TO READ THE LAST BOOKS IN A SERIES! *shakes fist angrily in the air*

5. Across the Universe series by Beth Ravis

Excuse me while I go vomit at this cover change. Who in their right mind would think, "Hmm, let's change these beautiful covers and instead make them ugly and dirty and not at ALL relating to the story??" Across the Universe is one of the most stunning covers I've ever seen and I picked this up because of the cover. Whoever decided that should be fired. 

6. The Nevermore trilogy by Kelly Creagh

If anyone here is an Edgar Allen Poe fan, than I recommend picking this up! At least the first book (I haven't read the last two). It's extremely creepy and otherworldly and dark. I loved it! So why haven't you finished it, Mariah...? The world may never know.

7. The Reboot Duology by Amy Tintera

I wasn't overly thrilled with Reboot, but it bugs me that I haven't read Rebel simply because it's one book, and I know I can push through it and cross this off my never ending list of series I haven't finished. 

8. The House of Night series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

I'm only posting the first 3 books since this is a whopping 12 book series. I'm hesitant to try and finish this for many reasons; first, it's going to take f o r e v e r. I have to reread all the books since that's just what I do when I want to finish a series, plus I've forgotten everything. Second, the few things I do remember of this series is how immature and indecisive the main character is. She's like America Singer on crack. At one point, she had three boyfriends. THREE. And she just acted like a total brat sometimes and didn't think about anyone but herself. She gets better as the books progress, but those first 4 are going to be tough.

9. The Madman's Daughter trilogy by Megan Shepherd

It's on my TBR, people. IT'LL HAPPEN.

10. The Scarlett Wakefield series by Lauren Henderson

The only reason why I haven't read Kiss of Death is because I honestly forgot about this series. I read this so long ago that it just was another book on my shelf. Before I rearranged my books, this was shoved in the corner with my other older books, so once I moved out here and saw this, I thought, "Shit, I actually enjoyed this story, let's go and buy the final book!" It was an added bonus that it was $3 on Book Depository!

Not too shabby! I actually don't have that many unfinished series. I had written a list a couple years ago and had knocked most of them off, so now I just have these stragglers. Maybe this'll be one of my new years resolutions! 

What series have you not finished yet? Link your post down in the comments! :)

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Happy Monday!

Hello, hello! I hope you guys had a fabulous weekend, and Happy Labor Day to my American friends! I work today, but plan on spending every second afterwards reading. I'm not sure what yet, but I have a couple options that are must-reads, so I might just pick them out of my TBR jar at random. It's so hard choosing something to read sometimes. *sights dramatically because life is obviously hard*

Read Last Week
Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Wonderland by Robert McKay

Currently Reading
Loosing Lila by Sarah Alderson

To Read
Rook by Sharon Cameron
Addicted to You by Krista and Becca Ritchie
Queen of Shadows?

I want to wait till I have my regular days off to read Queen of Shadows, which will be next Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. If there's any book in the world right now that deserves my full attention, it's Queen of Shadows. So if I manage to finish both Rook and Addicted to You, then I'll probably pick something out of my TBR jar.

Happy readings :)

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Wonderland by Robert McKay

Wonderland by Robert McKay
Publisher: McKay Manor
Publication: August 20th, 2015
Pages: 300
Song I Played While Reading: Fire N Gold by Bea Miller
Rating: 4 stars

   Teenage Alice didn’t mean to end up on Wonderland, but the living spaceship she commandeered had other plans, and he was very late.
   Abandoned on an unfamiliar planet, Alice’s first day as a space pirate has fallen into madness. Caterpillars? Mad hatters? A Jabberwock? A queen known for chopping off heads? Alice must face all Wonderland can throw at her if she’s to take back possession of The White Rabbit and leave Wonderland in one piece. 



I'd like to thank Robert McKay for providing me this copy in exchange for an honest review. 

If I was as fearless and spunky as Alice was when I was 13, my life would have turned out MUCH more differently. I was hesitant at first to read this since, let's face it, some 13-year-olds are are awful. Either they're spineless and go along with what everyone else is doing (like I was), or they're brash and don't think through any of their actions. 
Luckily, Alice was an absolute joy to read from. She was smart, thoughtful, brave, and fun. All of the characters in this story were! I've seen Alice in Wonderland, and was pleased to see Dee and Dum, The Mad Hatter, The Queen of Hearts, The White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, and the caterpillar. There were some other characters that I wasn't sure were in the original story, but I really enjoyed them too. They balanced out the book wonderfully and I was surprised to find myself feeling all the feels; anger, happiness, sadness, shock. I even teared up a little!
The writing was very simple and straightforward, easy to read. I loved the fighting scenes in here. Snicker-Snack (which I still picture as a candy bar in my head) was the coolest sword out there and I want my own. The action scenes were incredible and fully detailed and long. If theres one thing I love about fight scenes, it's long fight scenes. And the way McKay wrote it with Snicker-Snack was so damn cool. It was gory, but not too gory, with plenty of kick-ass moves that had me yearning to pick up my own sword and take action.
I really didn't know what to expect of Wonderland, but I was surprised at the hidden amount of sexual content. Wonderland definitely had a dark side, and I actually really liked it. Along with my worries over Alice being an immature 13-year-old, I believed the overall tone of the book would be more lighter, and for a younger crowd. But I was happily surprised with it's aim towards an older feel, with the intense fighting scenes, clubs, woman, and some hidden violent actions. I feel like I'm making this out to sound like it's some gory, sex-filled book, which it's not at all. It's a regular YA book, so if anyone was worried about the juvenile level, I'm here to say you're in the clear to read this!
Overall, this was a really fun book, and I cannot wait to see what other adventures McKay sends Alice & Co. on in the next book!

Quotes
""That sounds impossible," said the hatter. "We absolutely must give it a try!"

""The caterpillar loves rare things," said Lyla. "Maybe that's why he's taken an interest in you."
Alice blushed and tilted her head down to look at Dum's shirt between her knees. "I'm just a girl."
"Well," said Lyla, "no, 'just a girl' I know has left her home planet, stolen from the queen, cut off one of her guest's hands, and gotten shrunk down to mouse size all in a course of a day."
"But most of those are things that happened. They don't really make me rare or special."
"Life just happens, Alice. What makes us special is how we react to it."

"Just one more, she kept telling herself. They aren't endless. Eventually you will have killed them all and you'll have to figure out how to fly the ship with only a rodent and a mutated dog for crew. That thought brought about a wild fit of laughter which scared off a few of the lower ranking cards. Nobody could blame them; a girl sitting on the ground, covered in blood and dicing up enemy after enemy while howling with laughter was a disturbing sight."

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Book Haul!

This was a slow accumulation of books for about two or three months. I didn't buy anything for a while because I was hell bent on making a solid dent in my TBR pile, plus I was trying to save up all my money from work. But I kinda cracked and it all came tumbling down and suddenly I had all of these books in my arms. I went to Target yesterday to get Halsey's new album, The Weeknd's, and 1989 by TSwift, and I finally succumbed to the urge to buy all The Lunar Chronicles books. I always saw Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress just sitting on the shelf, crooning my name and demanding attention with their beautiful covers, and I finally snapped yesterday and snagged 'em. They were $8 each, which is pretty damn good! Plus I got The Vacationers by Emma Straub. 

So, it was quite the successful Target haul yesterday and I walked out feeling giddy.

PLUS, my black Birkenstocks came in. To say yesterday was a fabulous day is an understatement. *happy dances in my beautiful birks*

Okay, I'm rambling, onto the books I got!

- Loosing Lila by Sarah Alderson

- The Vacationers by Emma Straub

- Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress by Marissa Meyer

- Half-Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout 

- Landline by Rainbow Rowell

- QUEEN OF SHADOWS BY SARAH J. MAAS *hyperventilates* 

And then of course, Badlands by Halsey, which is absolutely incredible. Seriously, if you've never heard of her before, or have only heard Hold Me Down or New Americana, pleeeease listen to this album. It's raw and gritty and real. I also got Beauty Behind the Madness, The Weeknd's new album, which is ALSO incredible and, dear God, I think I got impregnated by Ed Sheeran's voice in Dark Times. And then 1989. Do I need to explain that one? NOPE. 

Happy readings :)

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August Wrap Up!

- Hunting Lila by Sarah Alderson

- Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

- You by Caroline Kepnes

- Juliet Immortal & Romeo Redeemed by Stacey Jay 

- One Fling to Rule Them All by Deanna Dee 

My favorite book this month definitely had to be Romeo Redeemed. What did you read this month? :) 

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Ten Characters You Just Didn't Click With (TTT)

This meme is hosted by the lovely ladies at The Broke and the Bookish :) 

1. America Singer from The Selection series 

Oh. Em. Gee. I've never been more upset and confused and pissed off and baffled by a character than I have with America Singer. If you look up "indecisive" in the dictionary, her stupid face would be next to it. If you don't like indecisive brats that string people along then please, do yourself a favor and don't pick this series up. 

2. Malyen Oretsev from The Grisha trilogy 

I never understood the infatuation Alina had with Mal. Never, not once, which is odd because he's the hunky, bodyguard-type of guy and that's my weakness. But it just didn't work with him and oh, the pain I suffered throughout this series because of it was HORRENDOUS. He was just so... flat. And boring.

3. Alina Starkov from The Grisha trilogy

Alina, sadly, is not a very memorable character. I LOVE the Grisha trilogy with a fiery passion, but there's something forgettable about her, even though she's the main character. Don't get me wrong, she did some great things and made me laugh, but overall there wasn't much there for me. I guess I could say Aline and Mal are a perfect match.. BUT THEY ARENT, I SHIP HER WITH ANYONE ELSE EXCEPT FOR HIM *coughNIKOLAIcough*

4. Ruby Daly from The Darkest Minds trilogy

This is kind of similar to Alina, where I liked Ruby at times, but overall she didn't sit well with me. She was such an emotionally fragile person that it was like a bomb waiting to explode. One thing could completely set her off, or she could just shut down, while I would've done something completely different. I also wanted smack her upside the head a few times. BUT that doesn't mean I didn't like her character, or the story for that matter. I loved the story, and Ruby definitely had her moments of glory.

5. Tris Prior from The Divergent series

This was only something I realized after I finished Allegiant. If you've read it, you know what happens, and the only reason why I even cried was because I felt so bad for Tobias. Overall, Tris was a character I was never able to fully connect with. At time she really bothered me, but most of the time I just sat there trying to figure out why she was doing what she was doing. 

6. Wren Connolly from the Reboot duology 

Super, super, super boring character for me. Should I read Rebel? Is it worth it?

7. Dee Black from The Lux series

I had a love/hate relationship with Dee. I tried, I really tried not to judge her for her actions throughout this series. But it WAS DAMN DIFFICULT BECAUSE SHE WAS BEING SO UNREASONABLE. YOU DONT THINK KATY FELT BAD ENOUGH? YOU JUST HAD TO BE A BITCH TO HER? I'm sorry, this won't make any sense to anyone that hasn't read the series but she really pushed my buttons. And then all the shit went down in Opposition and... it was a mess. A hot, friggin mess.

8. Abby Abernathy from the Beautiful Trilogy

I think I would've liked Abby if she hadn't been written by Jamie McGuire. McGuire's books are all angsty and filled with crazy, extreme relationship that either have the couple having hot sex or screaming at each other. I liked Abby enough where I knew if she was put into a different story with none of that angsty-crap, then I would've really liked her. But she wasn't, so I had to skim most of Beautiful Disaster and Walking Disaster. 

9. Brit Pheiffer from Black Ice

This girl was just an idiot. And I really mean that in the nicest way possible because I could tell she meant well, but she was written poorly. 

10. Guinevere Beck from You

This weird woman. She was naive yet cunning, annoying yet sweet. She was a confusing whirlwind of emotions and actions and I still don't fully understand how I feel about her. But she definitely isn't someone I would want to be friends with. 

This took me SO LONG to do. If I don't like a character, especially a main character, I normally don't finish the book (I only finished America's story because I wanted to read The Heir). So these were the best I could come up with! At least these characters were some I saw through to the end so I could justify my feelings for them.

Who was on your list this week? Leave a link to your post down in the comments! :)

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